14 June 2004 Daily Links

Flag Day special: Supreme Court rules that God is good, at least as far as the Pledge is concerned. Well, not exactly — rather, the justices ruled that Michael Newdow does not have sufficient custody of his daughter to sue on her behalf. But then Rehnquist, Thomas, and O’Connor (Scalia recused himself) added that there was nothing wrong with “under God,” anyway. (Earlier Revealer on the Pledge.)

9:20 am: The bomb blast in Baghdad that killed at least 10 this morning, was accompanied by the favoredanti-Americanslogan, “America is the enemy of God.” The infidel-accusation extended farther, as The Washington Post’sEdward Cody reports “The young men who raged around the bombing site Monday, for instance, denounced Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers as members of a single hated group — atheists.”

8:45 am: “Here was religion put to me in a different way and presented by three past-masters in liquor guzzling. On the strength of their stories, I decided to give it a try, ” writes Ernie G , one of the first beneficiaries of Alcoholics Anonymous proselytizing, and so a frequent mention in accounts of the group’s history. Another prized part of AA history, the working draft of the movement’s bible–the “Big Book”–is now up for auction at Sotheby’s, prompting debate among scholars about the manuscript’s rightful place.